In Asia and in Africa there are vast plains of sand, upon which no
grass grows, and through which no river runs. These plains are as
smooth as the ocean unmoved by waves. As far as the eye can reach,
nothing is to be seen but sand. In the middle of the day when the sun
is hottest, the sand dazzles the eyes of the traveller, as if there
were a sun beneath the sand as well as one above.
Here and there, but many miles apart, are green spots consisting of
bushes, trees, and grass, growing around a small pool or spring of
water. These green spots are called oases. Here the tired traveller can
find food and shade, and can sleep awhile, sheltered from the blazing
sun.
How do you think the traveller crosses these burning plains? Not in
carriages, nor on horseback, nor in railroad trains, but on the backs
of tall, long-necked, humpbacked camels.
Even if you have seen camels alive, or pictures of them, you will still
be glad to learn more about these very useful animals.
The camel lives on grass, and the dry short herbage, which is found on
the edges of the desert. While travelling in the desert, it is fed upon
dates and barley. It is able to eat a great deal of food at a time and
to drink enough water to last some days. By this means, it can go for
a long time without food, and travel long distances without stopping
to eat or drink. The camel has a curious lump of fat on the top of its
back called a “hump.” One kind of camel has two humps. One purpose of
these humps, is to supply the camel with strength, when it has neither
food nor water, and would otherwise die from want.
The foot of the camel is a wonderful thing. It is broad, and has a soft
pad at the bottom, which keeps it from sinking in the yielding sand,
when the camel crosses the arid deserts.
[Illustration]
The camel with two humps on its back is much larger and stronger than
the camel with one hump. The one-humped camel is known as the Arabian
camel or dromedary. Asia is the home of the camel, but numbers of them
are used in Africa and other parts of the world. The camel is trained
to kneel down to receive its load, and to let its master get on its
back. The camel can smell water at a great distance. When its rider
is nearly dead from thirst, and water is near, he can tell it by the
greater speed at which the camel begins to travel.
The camel is often called the “ship of the desert.” As the desert is
like a sea, and the green spots upon it like islands, so is the camel
like a ship, that can carry the traveller from one point to another,
quickly and safely. But even with his faithful camel, the traveller
does not care to cross the desert alone. The difficulties of keeping in
the right track, and the fear of wild Arabs, make it much safer for a
number of travellers to cross the desert together.
Travellers take with them camel-drivers and men who know the way, to
look after the beasts when they stop for the night. These men light
the fires, cook the food, and fill the large skin-bottles with water
when they come to a spring. The travellers, camels, and camel-drivers,
together, form what is called a caravan.
_Word Exercise._
ar´id
daz´zles
isl´and (_ī´land_)
dĕs´ert (_dĕz-_)
oases (_ō´a-sēz_)
car´riage (_kăr´rij_)
dif´fi-cult
herb´age
A-ra´bi-an
car´a-van (or, _car-a-van´_)
pict´ure (_pĭkt´yür_)
shel´tered
dromedary (_drŭm´e-da-re_)
trav´el-ler